Blue Beetle - The Man of T.O. Morrow, Part 2 - Danial Carroll

[I don't know if this has been done before, or is even allowed, but I'm going to run with it anyway, and deal with the beratement later :P]

PANEL ONE

Professor Morrow is leaning over a still unconscious Jaime. His back is to us so we can't see exactly what he is doing.

PANEL TWO

Same view as the previous, except now Morrow is holding the Scarab is the air like a sporting trophy.

CAPTION: An hour later...

MORROW: It is mine!

PANEL THREE

From the front, we see Morrow reaching over his head to put the Scarab in place on his back. It's legs have already wrapped around him. He is smiling triumphantly.

PANEL FOUR

Close on Morrow's face, now looking confused.

PANEL FIVE

Identical view as the last, only now he is wincing in pain. There is a dribble of blood trickling from his nose.

MORROW: ->Gkk<-

PANEL SIX

Close on Jaime, waking groggily and rubbing his head.

JAIME: What... Where am--

PANEL SEVEN, WIDE

Jaime, with the Scarab on his back, is now sitting up on the operating table, looking horrified. Before him, on the floor, lays Professor Morrow. His torso has been ripped wide open like an autopsy subject. Blood is sprayed all around.

JAIME: Oh my god...

JAIME: What have I done?

Layout

Blue Beetle – Under The Influence – Ryan K Lindsay

  

1. Blue Beetle flies through the sky, this is a heroic panel, he looks like everything superheroes were created to be. This would be a wide panel.

2. Blue Beetle flies downwards, he’s coming in to land. There’s a house kind of between him and the ground. These two panels are short rectangles.

3. Blue Beetle flies through the top corner of the house, sending shards of tiling and wood everywhere – he has hit it hard. Blue Beetle is tumbling after the hit, he’s about to hit the ground on his back.

4. Blue Beetle lands, grass is uprooted and puffed into the air with some dirt. Blue Beetle looks very awkward in this landing, arms akimbo, hell, whole body akimbo. This panel is thin and wide.

5. Blue Beetle’s head opens to show Jamie Reyes, he doesn’t look great. These three panels are taller rectangles.

Reyes: Grhhhh…

6. Reyes spews his guts out. Understated, simple, sad.

7. This panel is from directly above. Reyes, half out of his Blue Beetle costume, has collapsed next to his spew, maybe the side of his face is actually in it.

Caption: I don’t remember this part.
Caption: Let’s look at the last thing I do remember.

Blue Beetle - The Man of T.O. Morrow - Sime McDonald

PANEL ONE

Jamie Reyes lays unconscious on an operating table. He's strapped in tight and is hooked into several ultramodern machines, outfitted with the standard glowing screens and blinking lights. Looming over Reyes is the dour-faced Professor Thomas Oscar Morrow.

CAPTION (1)

For the first time in a long time it is quiet.

I am, finally, alone with my thoughts.

CAPTION (2)

I know it will not last.

It never does.

PANEL TWO

Tight on Morrow's face, but faded in the background are two images; memories. On one side we have the Justice League smashing through the wall of one of his lairs. On the other, we have Lex Luthor (outfitted in his battlesuit), Doctor Sivana and Black Adam replicating the League, crashing through a wall.

CAPTION

All I want is peace and quiet.

Time alone in my lab.

But they've never let me, and I realise now:

They never will.

PANEL THREE

Morrow strokes Jamie's cheek.

T.O. MORROW

I don't expect you to understand.

I don't expect forgiveness.

I just want you to know...

 PANEL FOUR

Morrow's lips are inches from Jamie's ear as he whispers...

T.O. MORROW

... I'm doing this for science.

PANEL FIVE

Morrow's back is turned. He's reaching for something. Jamie remains unconscious, helpless. Seemingly doomed.

T.O. MORROW

I need protection from the forces who'd dare interfere with my research.

PANEL SIX

Marrow's facing us again. Only now, he's wielding a scalpel and a miniature chainsaw.

T.O. MORROW (1)

And once I harness the power of your Scarab,

you shall be my protection.

T.O. MORROW (2)

The Man of T.O. Morrow.

 Fin.

Blue Beetle - Come Together - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

Dan Garret, in old-style police uniform, wakes. He is lying on the floor, face down in the dirt, in a darkened room. He lifts his head and looks around.

CAP: Dan Garret…

DAN: Woah… head feels like a Pamplona bull run. Someone must’ve slipped me a mickey…

Panel Two.

As Dan picks himself up, he realises he’s not alone. Across from him lies industrialist Ted Kord, in an ill-fitting business suit. Kord has been piling on the pounds again.

DAN: And it looks like I’m not the only one—

Panel Three.

Suddenly Kord sits bolt upright and starts laughing.

TED: Bwahahahahahaha--!

CAP: Ted Kord…

Panel Four.

Bewildered and embarrassed, Kord stops laughing and stares at Garret. We’re watching their exchange over the shoulder of a third man, Jaime Reyes…

TED: Heh. Ahem… sorry. Why am I sitting on my ass in the dirt? Why am I fat again? Why am I laughing?

JAIME: I dunno, dude, but I reckon I can put an end to that...

Panel Five.

Garret and Kord both turn to face a revealed Jaime Reyes. He’s holding a portable computer – alien tech, similar to that which created the Blue Beetle scarab. But like his predecessors, he’s in his everyday clothing too. The screen of the computer is covered in alien symbols. Jaime looks worried.

CAP: Jaime Reyes…

JAIME: In case you're not fluent in alien-scarab-esperanto, this here says only one of us gets out of this room alive…

JAIME: And I’m sorry, I hate to pull rank on you guys, but… the truth of the matter is…

Panel Six.

Shot from behind Jaime, looking over both his shoulders this time, catching the confused, troubled reactions of both Ted and Dan as Jaime says…

JAIME: Only one of us actually came into this room alive to begin with.

Blue Beetle - Deep Blue Something - Max Barnard

The Premise: Okay, so with Blue Beetle a lot of what could be covered with his family, his powers and his scarab has already been covered, he's out of the teen titans, and is basically an ancillary character at present. This would normally be something crippling to a script, but in actuality an interesting situation is created, where that can all be left behind, or stay as it is, and we can take Blue Beetle on adventures far removed from his comfort zone.

And so here we are, with a character that can be sent anywhere now for all new adventures. So my premise here is to send Jaime to as many unusual locations in a series of done-in-one stories, starting with one of the most unusual environs to throw him into: The bottom of the sea. This page joins the story in progress, with our protagonist in a deep, dark part of the ocean, scanning for the anomaly that had originally set him on his new quest.

Nothing ground-breaking, just unusual and, hopefully, fun.

--------------------------------------------

#.1
Blue Beetle is standing on the ocean floor, in a vast empty circle of jagged, tooth-like rocks (which also just happen to be the teeth of a giant fish-robot, hidden under the ground). There are a few exotic fish darting about in the background, all outside of the 'mysterious' circle.

Khaji Da(caption): We are here.

Jaime Reyes: Are you sure? Because if I'm honest here I'm getting a little sick of this wild goose chase!


#.2
Blue Beetle is gesturing wildly with his arms and pacing inside the circle as he talks to Khaji Da.

Khaji Da(caption): There are no geese here. This is the correct location, Jaime.

Jaime Reyes: Then show me where!


#.3
Close-up on Beetle's face as he looks disgruntled.

Khaji Da(caption): You are standing in the precise co-ordinates.

Jaime Reyes: Well I don't see any--


#.4
A very crooked close-up of Jaime looking as everything around him (including the panel?) shakes.

SFX: RRRRRRRRRRMMMMB

Jaime Reyes: WHA?!


#.5
A shakier version of Panel 1, except now the teeth are coming together, revealing the gaping maw of the fish-robot, rising out of the ground to swallow Jaime whole. Jaime is looking around in the centre of this giant mouth, shocked by the sudden reveal.

Jaime Reyes: OH, COME ON! NOT COOL!

Blue Beetle - Beginning of the End - Ben Rosenthal

1. Jamie Reyes stands in a group of DC Heroes. He is in his Blue Beetle gear, however his head is exposed. Around him stand the heavyweights – Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern. There has obviously been a battle, with debris surrounding the heroes. They are battle worn, but have obviously won.

JAMIE
Wow.

2. We are looking behind Jamie, as he stares on at the heroes before him. The Blue Beetle scarab on Jamie’s back is clearly visible.

JAMIE (1)
Like...wow. I fought alongside these guys. They needed me. They came to me!

JAMIE (2)
I mean, I mostly just watched, but still...wow.

3. Sections on of the beetle on Jamie’s back have began to blink with light, as if sending a transmission.

JAMIE (off panel)
Hey, Scarab. You have a recording device or something so I can show Paco later?

4. A screen, mounted on an alien-esque panel. It is a hybrid of electrics and organics. The screen itself is semi-transparent, and through it we can see out of a window. Outside of that window are stars and blackness – it is in outer space. On the screen is data, written in the same language that the Scarab talks to Jamie.

WORD BALLOON (off panel – replace the English text with Scarab symbols)

(We have visual on their champions. Prepare the fleet.)

*Check out the B-Side post for the Blue Beetle at Post Humour Comedy.

Blue Beetle - The World is Yours? - Matt Duarte

Blue Beetle in “The World is Yours?” by Matt Duarte

Five panels. The first four panels are equal in size on a two by two grid, while the last one is bigger. If you haven't read the Blue Beetle series, the unintelligible symbols are how the Scarab communicates with Jaime.

Panel 1

Description: Blue Beetle has formed a big shield behind him. Both him and his friend Paco are with their backs behind it. Bullets are hitting the shield as they talk. They are in the middle of a desert.

BLUE BEETLE: Why did we pick a fight in the middle of the desert again? There are no places for you to hide.

PACO: Dude, El Paso. Everything is a desert here.

BLUE BEETLE: If I turn around and fight them, you’ll be out in the open.

Panel 2

Description: Seen from above, we can see Paco and Blue Beetle hiding behind the shield, while at a distance, a group of rednecks are parked behind a car shooting at them. There is literally nothing around except an odd cactus and some rocks.

PACO: Whatever, I can handle it.

BLUE BEETLE: There has to be something I can do...

SCARAB: (unintelligible symbols)

BLUE BEETLE: Really, you can do that?

Panel 3

Description: Behind the shield again, Paco has a confused face, while Blue Beetle is smiling.

SCARAB: (unintelligible symbols)

PACO: What? What did the scarab say?

BLUE BEETLE: It says that it can “Provide supplemental temporary armory” for you.

PACO: What does that mean? What kind of weapon?

SCARAB: (unintelligible sounds)

Panel 4

Description: Still behind the shield. This time, a futuristic looking weapon (kind of like a space shotgun) has seemingly popped out of Blue Beetle’s body and landed in Paco’s hands.

BLUE BEETLE: Ouch! That hurt!

PACO: Alright, now that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s wait until they’re reloading and go all out!

BLUE BEETLE: No, wait, we better plan out something better.

PACO: Screw that, I always wanted to do this...

Panel 5

Description: Paco is now jumping from behind the barrier, with his shotgun in hand and firing it. He is laughing maniacally. Behind him, Blue Beetle is also shooting with one hand, while he takes the palm of his other hand to his face.

PACO: SAI HELLO TO MAI LIDDLE FRIEND!

BLUE BEETLE: Paco, you are an idiot.

The End.

Why Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)?

Because I thought he was dead.

Honestly, when it came my turn to choose a character, it seemed that good ol' DC had killed another of their teenage legacy characters. They have a pretty bad track record when it comes to that, and I was annoyed that they had done that. I wanted to see what the writers here would do with him. As it turned out, he wasn't really dead (and they dragged this event through three issues), but by the time I learned that, I had already chosen him. Not that I'm unhappy with my choice, mind you.

Jaime Reyes is more than just a random legacy character. He is unique enough to strike out on his own and come out from under the shadows of the other two men that have called themselves Blue Beetle. On top of that, I quite like the fact that he is one of the few heroes that does not opperate out of a fictional city (as most DC characters do) or New York (as most Marvel characters do). He is from El Paso, and his roots there as well with his Hispanic family play a large part in his personality. In any case, he is probably one of the best DC characters created this past decade, and I look forward to see what everyone brings to the table this week.